Uluru and the Mutitjulu water hole

Saturday 23rd October.

G'day! Do you like Marg's impression of a fair dinkum jolly swagwoman, complete with tucker bag, under the shade of a Coolibah tree?

We'd had a leisurely breakfast on the balcony this morning when an uninvited guest dropped by. Can you tell what it is yet (Dave) - because we can't, even though we bought a book of Australian birds.If it isn't called the desert song thrush, then it should be.

At least we found out that the parrots in Perth were actually rainbow lorikeets.

We were picked up at our hotel early this afternoon and taken by minibus to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Uluru National Park, to meet our Anangu guide, Sarah and a Japanese interpreter. Apparently the two languages are very similar and if you are able to speak Japanese you will be able to learn the language of the Anangu people quite easily.

After introductions had been made and we had learned some of the history and beliefs of the people, we walked to the Mutitjulu water hole. It is extremely important to the local people and is one of the few permanent water holes in the region.

The water hole is situated at a cleft in the rock which you can see in the picture.

On the way to the site, we saw several caves, some of which had paintings on walls and roofs.

The oldest of these paintings dated from more than 20,000 years ago.

The water hole is an amazing place - very peaceful and enclosed on 3 sides by rock of different colours. It was awe inspiring. Here, Sarah and the guide re-told some of the creation stories of the Anangu people. These stories are supposed to explain the physical appearance of the rock, but you need a good imagination at times to spot features like serpents' heads with the nose cut off!

We were taken to other points around the base of the rock. Quite a few places are sacred and photography is forbidden. The Anangu people ask that people do not climb the rock. We asked why climbing is not banned and were told that it is a condition laid down by the Australian government that the climb remains open. All the Aboriginal people can do is to make a request.  Obviously many people choose to ignore it. There is only one point on the rock where climbing is allowed.

Over the years, 40 people have died trying to climb the rock, many of them from heart attacks. Others apparently died when their hats blew off- as they made a grab for them and disappeared over the edge!

After all the culture and facts and figures, we needed a drink - so . . .

. . . finally we went to the best spot to watch the sunset. With glasses of champagne in hand we watched the changing colours. Magical!

We would have loved at least an extra day to do more. We'll just have to come back!